Melting
by Jay-Gu
Summary: To Grimmjow, it was like watching icecream melt; it started off whole, but it soon falls apart, melting, slipping through his hands, beyond hiscontrol. Bleach, AU.


_Some people...they never leave…_

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><p>After a while, the words seemed to look the same, line after line. They blurred together, making it impossible to read. It's not like he was actually reading it anyways, he was merely trying to make himself look occupied, fearing being disturbed.<p>

Everyone seemed to be up to that lately, giving their two cents, even though he thought they deserved a refund. Only did his close friends see the changes- The slumped posture, dark circles under his eyes, grades dropping, all of it. Everyone else thought he just took his problem head-on, like usual. They didn't even bat an eye at the situation.

After a while, even reading the newspaper to look distracted doesn't help.

"Ya ready ta go?" The soft, watery voice made Grimmjow look up from the paper, to see his best friend standing at the door; jacket on, keys in hand. The pale man raised a slim, white eyebrow, golden eyes shining expectantly. Grimmjow took a moment to realize what Shiro was trying to say- figure out where he would be going, before the realization hit him again.

_How many days has it been since I've seen him? How many weeks since this all happened?_

Four. Four weeks ago Grimmjows almost perfect life took a tumble, crumbling into dust as it fell. Never in his life, even when his father died at the young age of five, had he felt so broken. He was just lucky, if one could call it that, that Shiro was somewhat in the same boat. The tall, thin albino had never dealt with something like this ever.

Neither were prepared for that day; they thought it was just some sort of phase, until Grimmjows life was on the line. It was beyond neither Shiro or Grimmjow to do anything about him; He just slipped through their fingers.

"Yeah, gimme a minute," Grimmjow put the paper down, and went into Shiro's room. He had practically been living there since everything went down- hell, even before that. Shiro's father even had the heart to let Grimmjow move most of his belongings in there, seeing as Grimmjow developed a fear of going back to his apartment to live by himself. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone, before heading out with his best friend.

Usually, the car ride was long, silent, awkward, and depressing all mixed into one. Shiro usually just reflects on why it couldn't have been him, while Grimmjow thinks about what went wrong. Today, however, Shiro was vocal. As he stopped at a red light, golden eyes turned to bright, cyan blue.

"Grimmjow…" Shiro wasn't sure how to put it.

"Yeah?"

"I… forget it," Shiro turned back to the light, just in time to see it turn green.

Grimmjow sighed and stretched in his seat, propping both feet up on the dashboard. Shiro was startled by the action, he hadn't done something like that in a long time. "Something eatin' ya Shiro?"

"It's… nothing, don't worry about it," Shiro mumbled.

He sighed. "I thought we had an agreement here. It's not healthy for either of us," Grimmjows voice seemed laced with concern, almost like he knew what was about to be said.

Shiro sighed, giving in. "Grimmjow, you _hafta_ stop this."

"Hmm? Stop what?"

"_This!_ Everything! I know this is hard, but it's no better for me either! Sure you look string at school, you impress everyone, but as soon as your back at _my families_ house, you're a total wreck. Have you ever thought that your not the only one who has to be strong? I'm like you but more! I can't break down as soon as I'm home, I have to take care of you, my siblings, my father… I.. I.." Shiro had to pull over halfway through his speech. His his was currently resting against the wheel, sobs wracking through his body.

Grimmjow was bewildered. He hadn't thought of that one. And it suddenly struck him with how big of a pussy he was acting. It was actually beginning to piss him off. Furious, he ripped open the passenger door, and walked over to the drivers. He shoved himself in, and practically threw Shiro onto the passengers seat.

"Fucker," he spat. "Lemme help you next time then. Don't fucking bitch to me, without warning me about the fucking issue first." There were no more words as Grimmjow drove the rest of the way.

Both teens shuddered as they entered the building. Shiro hated it here. The nurses looked at him as if he belonged in those rooms. One of the doctors actually asked him how he got out, and tried to escort him into a room. That was the last time he ever heard Grimmjow laugh so much.

Shiro missed it.

They walked through the dim-lit hallways, towards the reception. They had gotten fairly comfortable with talking to Lisa, the receptionist. She may as well been Grimmjow's long lost sister; she looked at porn while working, she was blunt, and frankly, didn't give a shit. They liked her a lot.

"Heya Lisa," Grimmjow suspected his friend like her a lot more than he let on.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm busy today, so just sign in and you know where to go," She drifted from the phone, to the computer, to writing as they signed in. Why would the receptionist be so busy? They didn't think about that too much, as they began the walk. The walk the liked to call _The Walk Of Sanity_.

Shiro had cackled at the name the first week, stopping everywhere, to try and fuck the everyones mind, but he tired of it, and after a while felt terrible about it, knowing he was now a family member to one of these people. That was the first time Shiro actually stopped being his annoying self.

The Walk Of Sanity was worse today. The dull lighting seemed to be even more dull. It wasn't the building fault- it's just that most of the money was put towards drugs, and research. There wasn' enough lighting for hallways, as long as you could see, it was fine. Everything seemed to be active; everything could be heard. They could hear footsteps of uneven, shaky pacing, whistling, laughter, low mumbles, screams for help, and disturbing breaking noises. The worst part was how loud their footsteps were. All the noises they heard from cells, would quicken, sounding frantic as they walked by. Making both boys hairs stand on end. As soon as they passed, it would go back to normal.

Grimmjow was ready to shoot himself by the time he reached the doctors office. He knocked, and was greeted by Ishin himself, looking as anxious as both boys.

"Come in boys, I can sure as hell bet you don't wanna be out there right now…" Shiro and Grimmjow walked in and the door was shut quickly behind them.

Grimmjow took a moment to scan the office. The long-ish, white room, with a desk at the back, full of papers and a computer. Up on the walls were anatomy posters, and shelves of books. The wall which contained the large window had a blind over it today.

"Wha's wrong with 'em today?" Shiro couldn't have sounded more freaked.

"I'm not sure, but I can assure you it was probably Szayel," Ishin sighed. He didn't like that doctor- that pink hair and golden eyes along with his way of doing things just scream creep. Ishin couldn't understand how the man ever became a doctor.

"Hows…" Grimmjow wouldn't say it.

Ishin sighed again. "Worse. We.. Can't figure out what's wrong unless he's awake, but he's extremely hostile when he is… the … both nurses and doctors are scarred to go near him. Even Szayel. Can you believe it? Szayel!"

Shiro nodded as he read through the days report Ishin always shared with them. It was full of the doctors scratchy writing, and of words Grimmjow didn't even bother to understand. When Shiro was done, his expression held one of 'this is not good,' or 'we are so fucked.'

"C- Can we look?" Shiro cringed as his father nodded, drawing up the blind that contained the window.

"This," The doctor sighed, "This is what we've had to resort to for him. None of you can talk to him today."

Grimmjows stomach hit the floor. Waves of nausea rolled through him, as sobs began to shake him, seeing the body lying there. The worse part was he couldn't even help him…

He wore the normal asylum paitent geddup, only he was fortunate enough to have a straight jacket around. His arms were bound at his sides, as he lay there, facing the window. His knees were drawn up to his chest, his dull, orange hair standing out in the padded room.

His eyes however…

They were a different story. His dull, lifeless brown orbs were half open, staring directly at Grimmjow. Those dead eyes seemed to be screaming help, but he knew that wasn't right. He started to shift impatiently, anxiously, biting his nails, doing anything to stop the unease.

_That's impossible, he doesn't even know I'm here… He can't…_

"He's looking right at me!" Grimmjow suddenly blurted out. "C-Close it… _Now!_" Ishin, however, didn't move from his spot. He merely observed what was happening, so he could grab some extra research towards his son.

"What are ya talkin' 'bout Grimm?" It was true Shiro felt sick from seeing his twin like this, but from what he could see from his eyes, they were dead, looking nowhere. How could Grimmjow be saying this?

"He's.. I don't know!" Grimmjow was on the edge of hysteria, he fell to his knees, and put his head in his hands.

_He could still feel the stare…_

"Err, Grimmjow, why don't you go wait out in the car?" Grimmjow didn't respond. He couldn't. He felt as if he was glued in his spot, speech taken from him. It wasn't until he felt the slap across his face that he came back to reality.

"Grimmjow…" Ishin stood on his haunches in front of Grimmjow, expression full of concern.

"I'm… I'm fine, I just… I think it's time to leave," he stood abruptly, before walking out of the door, not even sparring a glance at the body lying in the window.

As soon as he got outside, he took in as much air as he could, relishing the cool, tastelessness. He stood there for a while trying to assess the situation.

Well, there wasn't much to asses, but the fact he had stared directly at Grimmjow. He couldn't remember the last time the Hershey orbs looked at him. And he wished they hadn't looked at him. Grimmjow wanted memories of those beautiful eyes full of passion, love and happiness, not sadness and death.

Grimmjow sighed, and decided to go back to the car and phone Yuzu and Karin they would be home soon. As soon as that was done, he leaned back in his seat, stretching as far as possible, before slipping into the memories of his beloved…

_Ichigo…_

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><p>…<em>Because they don't realize that they don't exist anymore<em>

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry if anyone seems OOC, any suggestionstips would be appreciated. If something is wrong, feel free to flame me :)**

**So this idea came to me at 2 AM, so I spent a long time trying it out, and I know my asylum..ness is most likely highly incorrect, but, for plot use, it shall stay like this. This story will probably be divided into 2 stories, or one uber-long one. So, this prolouge is set in the very near future- the next chapter shall be set around 6 months before this, and will describe Grimmjow's realationship with both Ichigo, and Shiro (how they met, blah blah). I'm pretty sure the quote is from the sixth sense (I saw it on dA last night, whilst browsing, but I completley forget it now)**

**This is my first fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing :)**


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